Category: Deep Thoughts

  • The SRE book

    I gave a Lightning Talk at SREcon16 and I was lucky enough to win the SRE book from Google while I was there. Here are some notes of things I was thinking while reading it. First, this is a phenomenal piece of work, that really marks a special point in time: the dawn of the possibility of…

  • The “Listen Up” Pledge

    Thanks, Dave, for speaking up for what’s right. I’m with you, buddy. I also find harassment offensive, and I pledge to do the same as you. We need to draw a line in the sand, and organize ourselves so that healthy, respectful teams are on one side of it, and trolls are on the other…

  • Dell and the NSA

    While I was reading this blog about how NSA’s bad-BIOS malware probably works, I was struck by a “coincidence”: Dell does significant amount of government contracting work. In fact, Ed Snowden worked for Dell at one point. NSA’s bad-BIOS targets the RAID cards in Dell servers. Now, Dell servers are widely deployed. I’ve used them…

  • Double take

    The nicest thing happened to me on the way home from work… I got one of those movie-perfect double takes from a guy I passed. Of course, it was probably due to the pretty rainbow umbrella I was carrying, while cruising along on my unicycle. Years ago I realized that if it’s a grey rainy…

  • Just Married

    I’ve been away from the web for a while because I was in Olivone, Ticino, Switzerland getting married! Thanks to friends and family who came from so far away to witness such a special day. And thanks also to our wonderful vendors, who made the day go so well. If you are thinking of putting…

  • Just DO It

    There’s a guy in Philly who realized he’s rich, because me makes $30,000 as a community organizer, and many people in the world live on far less. He decided to go on a diet, for his own helath, but also to understand what it means to live on a simple diet. That’s already an interesting…

  • 50 pennies for your thoughts

    I love Alex Chadwick. He’s proven he’s a real artist for finding stories on 50 cent interviews. He’s Studs Terkel for another generation.

  • Learning to Love Social Welfare

    When you fall in love with someone from another country, it just happens. Then what comes after that takes more effort. You have to learn to love the other culture you’ve thrown your lot in with. That process is, and will continue to be, a joy for Marina and me. Here’s an article that describes…

  • Heard in Europe

    Overheard here in England (which was, last I checked, a European country): I found a really interesting partnership we could join, but we’d have to make friends with a bunch of Europeans. Insert sound of my jaw dropping the floor here…

  • Repair vs Replace

    What are the economic effects of the repair vs replace decision? Interesting question, that. If you missed “more local employment of the blue collar type”, go read this: There is a slight diversion of purchasing strategy, repair rather than replace. This feeds a blue collar industry in the local region. It used to be, when…